ASN: Kidneys Transplanted in France Would Be Discarded in US

MONDAY, Oct. 29, 2018 — Many kidneys transplanted in France would be discarded in the United States, according to a study presented at the American Society of Nephrology’s Kidney Week, held Oct. 23 to 28 in San Diego.

Olivier Aubert, M.D., Ph.D., from the Paris Translational Research Center for Organ Transplantation, and colleagues compared kidney quality and outcomes between the United States and France using data from 2004 to 2014.

The researchers found that during this period, 125,936 kidneys were procured for transplant in the United States and 4,287 were procured for transplant in the Paris Transplant Group cohort. They found a greater proportion of higher-risk transplanted kidneys among French versus U.S. kidneys, as measured by the kidney donor profile index (KDPI; median, 65 versus 42). The KDPI of U.S. kidneys increased modestly during the study period (mean, 42 to 44), while a greater increase was seen in France (mean KDPI, 54 to 67), indicating more aggressive organ use. For higher-KDPI kidneys transplanted in France, three- and five-year death-censored graft survival, respectively, was 88 and 83 percent for KDPI 80 to 90 kidneys, 83 and 79 percent for KDPI 91 to 99 kidneys, and 81 and 78 percent for KDPI 100 kidneys. Many transplanted French kidneys would have had a high probability of discard in the United States.

“By comparing transplant practices in two countries, we provide fresh evidence that older deceased donor organs are a valuable underutilized resource,” one of the co-authors said in a statement.